Ski and Snowboard News, Deals, and Events

Red Bull Buttercup meets are held under the lights, at the base of the mountain, with slapping down the nose and tail counting for the judges.

Event organizers said, "It's all about how much style you can spread onto the custom-made butterpad. Jib, bonk, tap and slide your way across the multi-featured pad, however you like, just make sure you lay it on with a lot of smooth buttering.

"Overall style and creativity will help in this jam format contest, but only tricks that include buttering will count for judging, so slapping down your nose and tail is where it's at in this purely pasteurized competition."

Red Bull Buttercup is divided into pro and am divisions. Registration for the am division is free. First, second and third place will receive prizes from Rome SDS, Oakley, and Red Bull. There is no overall finals stop for the am division, but you can compete in each stop of the Buttercup series you would like and win tons of schwag.

Registration for the pro division is $10 and the winner at each mountain will take home all the cash from sign ups. That means if 40 people compete, first place takes home $400.

The winner from each stop also gets a spot in the Red Bull Buttercup Finals at Mount Snow, Vermont, Feb. 28. At finals there's $1,000 and a trip to Windell's or Woodward up for grabs.

The schedule: Jan. 30 Mountain Creek, N.J.; Jan. 31 Sunday River, Maine; Feb. 14 Big Boulder, Penn.; Feb. 21 Loon, N.H., and Holiday Valley, N.Y.; Feb. 28 finals at Mount Snow.

Registration at each event is 4 to 5 p.m.; open practice is 6 to 6:30 p.m.; jam is 6:45 to 7:5 p.m.; and finals begin at 8 p.m.